Flora of North America species comparison

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Sphagnum lenense

sphagnum
Habit Plants compact, short-branched and small; strongly reddish to golden brown, glossy when dry; flat-topped capitulum with moderately differentiated terminal bud.
Stem(s)

leaves lingulate,small, equal to or less than 0.8 mm, appressed to stem;

apex with strong lacerate split in the middle;

hyaline cells efibrillose, aporose, and nonseptate.
Branches

strongly 5-ranked, short and blunt, not much elongated at distal end.
Branch leaves

ovate; usually less than 1.5 mm;

stiff and slightly reflexed, straight to slightly subsecund;

margins entire;

hyaline cells moderately long and narrow (6–8:1), convex surface with one small round pore per cell at apex and numerous pseudopores on the margin, concave surface with large round wall thinnings in the cell angles and ends; chlorophyllous cells triangular in transverse section, with apex reaching concave surface.
Sexual condition

unknown.
Spores

not seen.
Branch

fascicles with 2 spreading and 2–3 pendent branches.;

branch stems green, with cortex enlarged with retort cells.

Sphagnum lenense
Habitat Common forming hummocks and carpets in a variety of weakly minerotrophic to ombrotrophic mires including Eriophorum tussock fens, dwarf shrub fens, polygon peatlands, string mires and raised bogs
Elevation low to moderate elevations
Distribution
from FNA
AK; NF; NT; NU; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
Discussion

Sporophytes are rare in Sphagnum lenense. This species is easily distinguished from the similar S. lindbergii by its compact growth form and reddish brown color. Sphagnum lenense also is a hummock former in the tundra whereas S. lindbergii forms carpets.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 70.
Parent taxa Sphagnaceae > Sphagnum > sect. Cuspidata
Sibling taxa
S. affine, S. alaskense, S. andersonianum, S. angermanicum, S. angustifolium, S. annulatum, S. aongstroemii, S. arcticum, S. atlanticum, S. austinii, S. balticum, S. bartlettianum, S. beothuk, S. bergianum, S. brevifolium, S. capillifolium, S. carolinianum, S. centrale, S. compactum, S. contortum, S. cribrosum, S. cuspidatum, S. cyclophyllum, S. fallax, S. fimbriatum, S. fitzgeraldii, S. flavicomans, S. flexuosum, S. fuscum, S. girgensohnii, S. henryense, S. imbricatum, S. inexspectatum, S. inundatum, S. isoviitae, S. jensenii, S. junghuhnianum, S. kenaiense, S. lescurii, S. lindbergii, S. macrophyllum, S. magellanicum, S. majus, S. mcqueenii, S. mendocinum, S. microcarpum, S. mirum, S. mississippiense, S. molle, S. obtusum, S. oregonense, S. orientale, S. pacificum, S. palustre, S. papillosum, S. perfoliatum, S. perichaetiale, S. platyphyllum, S. portoricense, S. pulchrum, S. pylaesii, S. quinquefarium, S. recurvum, S. riparium, S. rubellum, S. rubiginosum, S. rubroflexuosum, S. russowii, S. sitchense, S. splendens, S. squarrosum, S. steerei, S. strictum, S. subfulvum, S. subnitens, S. subsecundum, S. subtile, S. talbotianum, S. tenellum, S. tenerum, S. teres, S. torreyanum, S. trinitense, S. tundrae, S. viride, S. warnstorfii, S. wilfii, S. wulfianum
Synonyms S. lindbergii var. microphyllum
Name authority Pohle: Trudy Glavn. Bot. Sada 33: 14. (1915)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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